Often files and associated data in computer systems are remotely stored on one or more network storage devices. In anticipation of a possible restore request from a user computer system coupled to a network storage device, a physical snapshot of the content in the network storage device may be captured at a recorded time. If the user computer system has a need for and requests a restore, the captured physical snapshot can be used to recover contents from the network storage device as of the recorded time.
File virtualization systems provide methods for managing and presenting a plurality of network storage devices as a single, unified file system. Basically, file virtualization decouples the presentation of a file system from its' physical composition. Unfortunately, when file virtualization is implemented, there is no method or system for generating and providing a unified virtual snapshot in a heterogeneous storage network system.